Angry cat, still spraying

[JustineNYC]

I was reading Taz_Zoee's post, and I have a similar problem so I figured Id post and see if anyone had any ideas.

I have 6 cats, and one of them has had a list of urinary problems. He had struvite (sp) crystals and was put on Science Diet CD and then Urinary SO. Irwin is now 4 and his problems started about 2 years ago, peeing blood, not able to pass urine, frequent squatting....I ran him to the vet and he had a blockage. This is when he started to spray.

I read that sometimes cats can associate peeing in the litter with pain so they start to go elsewhere. Since his diet change (he is now on a raw diet) hes had one "flare up" They ran a list of tests again and couldnt find anything (no crystals this time) and they sent us home with anti-inflammatories. The dr told me he would probably have these flare ups every once in a while for the rest of his life and they could be treated with anti inflammatories.

Basically I have very willingly spent thousands of dollars on his food and tests to find out what is wrong with him. Now since his initial diagnosis of this 2 years ago, he has continued to spray. Ive taken him to the vet over and over and we Xrayed kidneys, we done urinalysis after urinalysis, there is nothing wrong with his urine or kidneys now. The only thing they can tell me is the wall of his bladder is thickened. He is on supplements for that, but from what I can see, it hasnt made a difference. I have told the vets he is still spraying and they told me medically he is fine, its probably just become habit now.

Now heres where it gets interesting. Even though this is what started the spraying, I dont believe its medical. We were living in a 2 bedroom apartment, 6 cats, kind of cramped, and Irwin has become moody. He doesnt like cats near him, looking at him touching him, etc.

Sometimes if I hold him too long and he starts to growl, when I put him down (and hes done this numerous times) he will beat the **** out of any cat (or dog) thats closest to him. Its like hes goes ballistic, hes mad I held him too long and he has to take it out on someone, and then just like that its over.

Last night I heard a fight going on, and I got up and went into one of the bedrooms, and he had his mother underneath him and he was holding her by the hips and she was SCREAMING. Irwin was all fluffed up, I yelled and he went running out.

ALL of my cats are fixed. Their are 4 females, 2 boys.

90% of the time he is the most affectionate sweetest guy. But over the past whatever, hes become very grouchy and its kind of increased as the number of cats have increased.

I now have moved to NC, I have 9 rooms, plenty of space, and he is still spraying. Hes upstairs most of the time, not even near other cats. He goes in the cat litter to urinate 90% of the time, and I try and put them everywhere to encourage him to go in, but then there is always that time where he'll go into the corner and spirtz.

In my old home, we had LOTS of feral cats outside, and Irwin would sit on the window and look out at them, slamming his tail, and then he'd get up and spray the window sill....doesnt that indicate behavioral?

Now we dont have outdoor cats and we're in a completely different state. Why is he still doing it?

I found a spot on the wall in the dinning room and in my bedroom yesterday.

My new home is only 4 years old, barely lived in and I dont want to ruin it.

What do I do?

BTW- I had tried the Feliway plug ins last year. I had one pluged in, in my kitchen above the counter, and he actually sprayed the plug in....so I dont know how much that thing was LOL

[Medusa]

Talk to your vet about a drug called Clomicalm. It is used to treat dogs w/behavioral problems but has been used successfully w/cats. I've had some of my Fur Posse on it for years. Some vets will tell you that it may take as long as 8-12 weeks to work but I was fortunate to have it begin working immediately. I have them tested once a year to make sure there are no complications and there have never been any. There is no change in their personalities either. My cats get 5 mg. before bed and I've seen no spraying incidents since then. Some other PTers use kitty Prozac instead and have seen good results w/that. I've never used it because I haven't felt the need; Clomicalm works very well for me. In the meantime, use a good enzyme cleaner where your cat has sprayed to completely remove the odor and stain. I use Urine Gone and it can be purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond and other stores, even online. Good luck.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem.:( I would also try using Cat Attract Litter by Dr. Elsey which you can buy at Petsmart to see if this will help him start using the litter boxes again. When I had a similar problem this really helped me and I also added a few more litter boxes in different locations. My Storm is going to start taking Prozac because he's still aggressive towards his siblings and has become much more grumpy lately. I tried Clomicalm but it didn't agree with Storm and it made him too sleepy and lethargic plus he hated the taste. Luckily I don't have problems with spraying or peeing outside of the box any more. Good luck.:)

[kb2yjx]

Our Nicholas was a bad sprayer. Transdermal Prozac worked nicely for him.... Good luck, this is a very frustrating problem....

[catmandu]

YOUR CATS:love::love: SO LUCKY THAT YOU LOVE AND UNDERSTAND THAT ITS NOT HIS FAULT AS MANY PEOPLE WOULD HAVE TOSSED HIM OUT, OR HAD HM PTS.
WE ARE PRAYING TAHT YOU CAN FIND A SOLUTION AND YOUR FRIEND WILL BE WELL.:love::love:

[JustineNYC]

Im praying too LOL I just found 5 more spots that he sprayed including the cat condo I just bought for everyone. I cant have anything nice with a sprayer. Im getting extremely frustrated. I just moved into a gorgeous home and he is ruining it. We are going to the vet tomorrow. I just fear they are going to want to run all kinds of tests on him to make sure its not his urinary tract and Ive already spent thousands on tests, there is nothing wrong with him.

[Catty1]

Try to convince them that this is behavioural and see if they will prescribe a kitty tranny for him.

Do you have copies of your other vet records? If not, give the new vet the contact information for the original once so they don't do the same tests all over again.

HUGS and good luck!

[catnapper]

I might have missed it, but how many litterboxes do you have? I'm sure you'ce heard the rule of thumb story of one box per cat plus one. I have 5 cats and I lost count on how many boxes ;) My Allen pees when he's mad at us for some unknown reason. When he does this, I buy a couple bags of Cat Attract litter. Its the BEST. You can get it from Petsmart. Well worth the $12 per bag. I don't know what they put in it, but it works like a charm every time. I ned to get a bag right now -- I caught him using hte laundry basket the other day :mad: :rolleyes: :eek:

[jennielynn1970]

I cant have anything nice with a sprayer. Im getting extremely frustrated. I just moved into a gorgeous home and he is ruining it.

Boy can I empathize with those sentiments. New home (even if it's 100 yrs old, it was in gorgeous condition visually), and cats decide to pee and poop outside the box. It's driven me nuts. I don't even look for new spots any longer. I have no idea if new areas even exist. :(

[Moesha]

I had a friend that had a cat that peed in inappropriate places. They put him on prozac and the problem stopped immediately. The vet said that it might take a few weeks to work, but he said they noticed the change right away.

[jazzcat]

My Rocky is a behavioral inappropriate peeing cat. I tried Clomicalm and it didn't work for him but my vet thinks it's because he's so sensitive. He's on Prozac, has been for about two months now, and it's working great!!! It's stopped his aggression towards the other cats and made him happy and mellow and best of all no peeing.

I have another cat with kidney stones, bladder stones and crystals who started peeing inappropriately. Now that she's on the prescription diet she's doing better.

I tried the Cat Attract Litter and found that my cats avoided it. Isn't that crazy? I didn't put it in all the boxes, just two, but they avoided them for a week until I added some of their old litter in with it.

I also use Feliway Plug-ins and as I just posted I think it caused one of my good behaved kitties to pee. After reading your post I guess it was the cause. I give up!!

[JustineNYC]

I might have missed it, but how many litterboxes do you have? I'm sure you'ce heard the rule of thumb story of one box per cat plus one. I have 5 cats and I lost count on how many boxes ;) My Allen pees when he's mad at us for some unknown reason. When he does this, I buy a couple bags of Cat Attract litter. Its the BEST. You can get it from Petsmart. Well worth the $12 per bag. I don't know what they put in it, but it works like a charm every time. I ned to get a bag right now -- I caught him using hte laundry basket the other day :mad: :rolleyes: :eek:


I have a cat litter in every room and double the rooms I have cats.

Before we moved from Brooklyn NY, I watched Irwin on my window ledge growling at the outdoor cats, and then he got right up and sprayed the window with urine while jiggling his tail.

I dont think thats a shortage of boxes thing. Im going to tell that to the vet and let him know he is beating up my other cats in what seems like anger. My friend witnessed him beating up my 90 lab and she was like, wow he needs happy pills.

And yep, I made sure to get medical records copies before I left NY. They can call all 5 vets hes been to themselves.

[JustineNYC]

I had a friend that had a cat that peed in inappropriate places. They put him on prozac and the problem stopped immediately. The vet said that it might take a few weeks to work, but he said they noticed the change right away.

Well this is making me feel better. Ill take him to the vet and if they dont put him on something, we'll go to another vet until we find one thatll help.

The vets website does have a information page about behavioral spraying and medicines prescribed for them so thats promising.

His diet helped his urinary inflammations. No more straining to pee. His urine is clear and it comes out no problem (Ive caught him spraying) and when he was 6 months old, he actually was on my lap and sprayed ME. I had him fixed right after and the vet said hopefully he wouldnt do it again.

<sigh> :rolleyes:

[Medusa]

I have a cat litter in every room and double the rooms I have cats.

Before we moved from Brooklyn NY, I watched Irwin on my window ledge growling at the outdoor cats, and then he got right up and sprayed the window with urine while jiggling his tail.

I dont think thats a shortage of boxes thing.

And yep, I made sure to get medical records copies before I left NY.

Yep, that's marking their territory alright. Your best bet will probably be to try either the Clomicalm or kitty Prozac. If Clomicalm ever stops working for my cats, I'll put them on Prozac. I will not have my house destroyed, so I know how you feel. I love my cats as though they're my children but I wouldn't tolerate any children ruining my house either. I have unlimited patience w/my cats until it comes to that subject and then I could lose my mind, so I know where you're coming from. The situation can be handled w/success, though, so good luck. :)

[Medusa]

Well this is making me feel better. Ill take him to the vet and if they dont put him on something, we'll go to another vet until we find one thatll help.

The vets website does have a information page about behavioral spraying and medicines prescribed for them so thats promising.

His diet helped his urinary inflammations. No more straining to pee. His urine is clear and it comes out no problem (Ive caught him spraying) and when he was 6 months old, he actually was on my lap and sprayed ME. I had him fixed right after and the vet said hopefully he wouldnt do it again.

<sigh> :rolleyes:

I had a cat that did that to me, too, except it was a female. Apparently, she was mad at me for something and peed on my hair in the middle of the night. I had to strip the bed and shower at 2:00 AM. She knew she was in big trouble because I couldn't find her all the next day. She went into hiding. LOL Vets sometimes think that females don't spray, only squat, but they do spray. I have one female on Clomicalm, my Yodie. She's a feral and a little pistol. Love her to pieces but she's definitely got catitude. :p

[JustineNYC]

Yep, that's marking their territory alright. Your best bet will probably be to try either the Clomicalm or kitty Prozac. If Clomicalm ever stops working for my cats, I'll put them on Prozac. I will not have my house destroyed, so I know how you feel. I love my cats as though they're my children but I wouldn't tolerate any children ruining my house either. I have unlimited patience w/my cats until it comes to that subject and then I could lose my mind, so I know where you're coming from. The situation can be handled w/success, though, so good luck. :)

So what are these drugs, are they liquid, pills? Do they have to stay on them forever?

[Medusa]

So what are these drugs, are they liquid, pills? Do they have to stay on them forever?

I get the Clomicalm in 20 mg. pills that I quarter; each cat gets 5 mg. before bed. I've heard that there is a generic liquid form that is less expensive but I've not tried it. My cats are easy to pill and I don't want to mess w/syringes, etc. w/4 cats on it. As for how long they're on it, your guess is as good as mine. I've tried testing them and I can honestly say that it's important that they get their regular dosage daily. Perhaps as they grow older and less feisty, they'll grow out of it but right now, I'm not taking any chances. LOL The kitty Prozac comes in a transdermal patch and I know that a few here on PT have seen good success w/it, so perhaps they'll comment on that.

[jazzcat]

My vet started Rocky on liquid Prozac. It's the same stuff as given to people but in a tiny dose. Unfortunately the liquid has a mint flavor so giving it to Rocky was almost impossible. He would gag and spit it out and it would end up in his fur and make horrible mats. After struggling with this for 2-3 weeks I noticed it seemed to not be working as well so the vet upped his dosage to 2.5 mg which meant we could switch him to the 10 mg tablet cut in 1/4ths. That has been great, he takes it in a soft treat and even asks for it plus the tablet is generic so I can get it at my pharmacy for $4 a month. It's about time to increase his dose and my vet told me to cut the pill in thirds. I don't know if I can do it since the tablet is small but I'll try. No way am I going back to the liquid. My vet is a stickler for increasing the dosage very slowly.

I don't believe Rocky has peed inappropriately once since starting the Prozac (again, knock on wood) and the added benefits of having him laid back, less stressed and not attacking my other cats has been wonderful!

[JustineNYC]

I have an appointment for today at 4. I appreciate everyones help with this. Id never put him to sleep over something like this, but I cant let him ruin my home and I dont want him to live in a bathroom for the rest of his life either.

The lady that made my appointment asked why I needed to come in and when I told her she said "Some cats just do that" :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I really hope they medicate him. Soon IM going to need some prozac!

[JustineNYC]

Im home (finally)

I explained everything to the doctor, she looked at his medical records and said its definitely behavioral. She said the drug that they use with the most success is Amitriptyline (Elavil). He'll be on a 4th of a pill for 2 weeks, if he is still spraying but acting himself, we bump him up to a 1/4 twice a day. She said itll take a few weeks to work, but if I see he isnt himself, hes sleeping alot, then his dosage has to be lowered.

Its a process to get a therapeutic level where hes himself, not stoned, and not spraying.

She mentioned one other drug, but wants to try this first.

I mentioned the Clomicalm, she said they prescribe that for dogs and its usually used to treat separation anxiety. :confused: I can tell she isnt going to give me that, if this fails, we'll go to another vet.

I did a search on the drug and people have said positive things on it.

::fingers crossed:::

[Taz_Zoee]

I really hope this works for you. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have to deal with spraying. I hope I will not soon find out about it too.

Good luck!! :D

[Medusa]

Well, it's a step in the right direction anyhow. I had my cats on Amitryptilene and it worked for a while but it had an effect on them that I didn't like; they were too drugged. Clomicalm is usually used for dogs but it's been used successfully w/cats, as I mentioned. I have a friend whose cat started spraying and she started him on it and is very pleased w/the results. But, as I said, at least your vet is willing to try something. So good luck and, hopefully, this will work for you. :)

[JustineNYC]

Well, it's a step in the right direction anyhow. I had my cats on Amitryptilene and it worked for a while but it had an effect on them that I didn't like; they were too drugged. Clomicalm is usually used for dogs but it's been used successfully w/cats, as I mentioned. I have a friend whose cat started spraying and she started him on it and is very pleased w/the results. But, as I said, at least your vet is willing to try something. So good luck and, hopefully, this will work for you. :)


Every vet is different I guess. When I mentioned Clomicalm and she said its for dogs, I wanted to say, And you just gave me a prescription for a people drug for a cat LOL....I got his pills at Rite Aid so obviously they arent strictly for, dogs cats whatever.

Anyway. Im going to keep an eye on him. I want the spraying to stop but I wont let him live comatose either. We'll play with the dosage if we have to and if it doesnt work or it konks him out, we'll try another drug or another vet.

At least if I take him to another vet, the cat already has a history of being prescribed for behavorial problems and we can just try another drug. Besides this vet there are 2 close by that my neighbor told me are very very good.

[Medusa]

Every vet is different I guess. When I mentioned Clomicalm and she said its for dogs, I wanted to say, And you just gave me a prescription for a people drug for a cat LOL....I got his pills at Rite Aid so obviously they arent strictly for, dogs cats whatever.


You're exactly right. Ametryptilene has not been approved for use in cats but vets prescribe it and it's used successfully quite a lot. So is Buspar.

[JustineNYC]

Maybe Buspar was the second drug she mentioned. I remember it started with a B. They all sound alike after a while.

On another note, Irwin was a gentleman at the vet. He let all the techs hold him and he was purring and soaking it up. He loves females. Makes me look nuts when Im telling them about how angry he is at home! LOL

[krazyaboutkatz]

I sure hope that this drug will work for him.:) I just picked up Storm's and Starr's prescription tonight at Costco which is similar to a Sam's Club. It was actually just one prescription for them to share and it was under Starr's name.

It's called Fluoxetine HCL and it's a the generic for Prozac. I got 60 pills for only $7.71. They're 10mg tablets and I only give each cat 1/4 of a tablet 1 time each day. My vet said that it could take between 4-6 weeks before I notice any improvement. I'm hoping I'll notice something in at least 1 weeks time like Jazzcat did. If it doesn't work for them then I'll have to wean them off of it.

Good luck and please keep us updated about Irwin.:)

[Medusa]

On another note, Irwin was a gentleman at the vet. He let all the techs hold him and he was purring and soaking it up. He loves females. Makes me look nuts when Im telling them about how angry he is at home! LOL

I know what you mean. I took my meezer Coco Puff in last week for sneezing, coughing, etc. and my vet said "He's really a good cat" and I thought "A lot you know!" LOL He is a good boy, very sweet, etc. but he's one of my pee cats. Same w/my blackie Boo; the vet asst. loved him so much she said "I don't want to give him back!" but he's a pee cat, too. So you never can tell.

Neither of my cats is angre per se; their thing is mainly dealing w/smells that they don't like. I bought a cat bed w/a foam rubber base and all 4 of my pee cats hated it and peed in it. I'd wash the cover, foam rubber base and all, put it back out and w/in minutes it would be peed on again. I finally just threw it away. The same thing happened w/table cloths on a small occasional table. They didn't like the smell of the fabric and would back up to it and pee, so I ended up throwing it away, too. One of the worst was when I had just hung brand new silk draperies. Coco Puff and Boo Bear couldn't pee on them fast enough. That landed both of them in the basement as punishment. My Maine Coon, Specs, peed on my dining room server so much that it actually warped the wood and I couldn't close the door on it. I had tried Ametryptilene, Buspar, Valium, nothing worked. Then out of desperation my vet prescribed Clomicalm. He said "It's for behavior problems in aggressive dogs but I've read studies that it's been used successfully w/cats and inappropriate spraying but it hasn't been approved yet but then neither has Ametryptilene. Want to try it?" Since I was standing there bawling, he already knew the answer. He said "Give it time; it may take a while before it begins to work" but I was one of the lucky ones; it began working immediately and my house and sanity were saved.

[JustineNYC]

I know what you mean. I took my meezer Coco Puff in last week for sneezing, coughing, etc. and my vet said "He's really a good cat" and I thought "A lot you know!" LOL He is a good boy, very sweet, etc. but he's one of my pee cats. Same w/my blackie Boo; the vet asst. loved him so much she said "I don't want to give him back!" but he's a pee cat, too. So you never can tell.

Neither of my cats is angre per se; their thing is mainly dealing w/smells that they don't like. I bought a cat bed w/a foam rubber base and all 4 of my pee cats hated it and peed in it. I'd wash the cover, foam rubber base and all, put it back out and w/in minutes it would be peed on again. I finally just threw it away. The same thing happened w/table cloths on a small occasional table. They didn't like the smell of the fabric and would back up to it and pee, so I ended up throwing it away, too. One of the worst was when I had just hung brand new silk draperies. Coco Puff and Boo Bear couldn't pee on them fast enough. That landed both of them in the basement as punishment. My Maine Coon, Specs, peed on my dining room server so much that it actually warped the wood and I couldn't close the door on it. I had tried Ametryptilene, Buspar, Valium, nothing worked. Then out of desperation my vet prescribed Clomicalm. He said "It's for behavior problems in aggressive dogs but I've read studies that it's been used successfully w/cats and inappropriate spraying but it hasn't been approved yet but then neither has Ametryptilene. Want to try it?" Since I was standing there bawling, he already knew the answer. He said "Give it time; it may take a while before it begins to work" but I was one of the lucky ones; it began working immediately and my house and sanity were saved.

Thats weird isnt it? I feel bad for my other cats because I buy them all these nice things to hang out on, and then he sprays it and no one steps near it. And I have very feminine females, so they hate Irwin LOL

I have 4 females, one of them is Irwins mom, 3 legged cat, she lived outside for 4 years, god bless her, she has never gone outside the box.

Its never the cats youd think it'd be. You would think a 4 year old street cat with 3 legs would be the last one to always go into this dome looking thing to go to the bathroom.

I remember one of my friends was like, Youll never litter train her. And Moglie, my little ringworm cat.....he took a little while.

Mainly because for the first few months he had worms, (we dewormed him 3 times) and he was using his own litter. When he got the clear to go into everyone elses, he was a little confused that suddenly he was in the big boy litter.

A few times, Id see him go in the corner and start digging and Id yell No no no and scoop him up and put him in the litter, and now, hes totally got the hang himself.

[Medusa]

Sometimes it takes the patience of Job to train them but they're so worth it. I was so desperate at one point that the thought crossed my mind for a second, a nano-second, to rehome them but I loved them too much. And who knows if the person I'd rehome them with would tolerate it or just toss them out on the street. I never would rehome them but I empathize w/you because I know how frustrating it can be. We spend a lot of money on our home and a cat's urine can destroy it. So it sounds like you're willing to try different methods and treatments and you're patient, too, so that's a big help. It'll work itself out. You're a good cat mom who has given these sweeties a home, so you deserve some peace and not pees. (Ok, lame joke.)

[JustineNYC]

I dont want to jinx anything but....no spraying. Coincidental?

[Medusa]

I dont want to jinx anything but....no spraying. Coincidental?

You scared him straight! LOL

[JustineNYC]

You scared him straight! LOL

Maybe he thinks hes going back to the vet LOL

I wanted to ask you, you said your guys acted drugged on this medication. Was it right away?

He seems himself on the pill but I know that doesnt mean next week he wont be groggy.

[Medusa]

Maybe he thinks hes going back to the vet LOL

I wanted to ask you, you said your guys acted drugged on this medication. Was it right away?

He seems himself on the pill but I know that doesnt mean next week he wont be groggy.

On the Ametryptilene, yes. It was as though I had stuffed animals. In the beginning, I was so thankful that they weren't spraying that I welcomed the peace. But I soon felt guilty about it and it didn't last long anyhow. They went right back to spraying. So then we went to Buspar. Nada. Then Valium. Still nothing. Clomicalm was the only one that worked and that didn't drug them. If your cat isn't spraying and doesn't appear to be drugged, then maybe your vet got the dosage right from the getgo. Cats are different just as people are so what drugs mine may not have the same effect on yours. Hopefully, you hit the jackpot. :)

[krazyaboutkatz]

This is great news.:) I hope that this means that it's working for him.:)

So far both Storm and Starr don't act drugged either but they both seem much calmer especially Storm. This is exactly what I wanted to happen.:)

[JustineNYC]

Still havent found any new spots. Ive been painting so they will show up a little more.

I did go upstairs and find him sleeping on my bed yesterday which was a little weird. I guess he wanted to be alone. I checked the room, no spray marks and when I came downstairs he followed me so I cant even say hes been sleeping more then usual or acting drugged.

[Medusa]

Still havent found any new spots. Ive been painting so they will show up a little more.

I did go upstairs and find him sleeping on my bed yesterday which was a little weird. I guess he wanted to be alone. I checked the room, no spray marks and when I came downstairs he followed me so I cant even say hes been sleeping more then usual or acting drugged.

Excellent! Sounds like you may have the formula for success!